The Queensland government says its pay dispute with public servants is likely to drag on into next year.
The government had planned to boycott the public sector union Together and directly ballot public servants on its wage deal.
But the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission rejected the government's application on Tuesday.
Minister Assisting the Premier Glen Elmes says the matter will now return to arbitration, and that it could go on for another 10 months.
"All this will do now is it will go back into arbitration, where it's always been, and we will now have to wait until the commission times become available," he told the ABC.
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"More than likely that will be somewhere between March and May of next year."
The dispute has already been dragging on for some time over the core wage agreement, which covers about 60,000 workers.
An initial offer of 2.35 per cent a year, for three years, was rejected in December 2012.
The government lowered its offer to 2.2 per cent, and asked for a direct ballot of workers.
The Together union said the commission did the right thing in rejecting the government's bid to bypass it.
"It was an outrageous attempt by the government to stop the union talking and consulting with members," union secretary Alex Scott told AAP.
